MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva, next to Shimon Peres, justifies Iran’s leader visit to Brazil

Shimon Peres, first Israeli head of state to visit Brazil in forty years

Brazil's President justified the scheduled visit of Iran's president in two weeks time and offered to mediate in the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine. Lula da Silva rejected criticism over the upcoming visit of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, slated for November 23, standing next to visiting Israeli president Shimon Peres.

“You don't build the necessary peace in the Middle East if you don't talk to all the political and religious forces that both want peace and are opposed to peace”, Lula da Silva told journalists during a joint press conference with Shimon Peres in Brasilia.

“We don’t have a veto to talk with whoever it is, since from a conversation you can extract a word or a dash from which to build peace, because if not the peace process becomes a club of good friends”, argued Lula da Silva.

Peres had a weeklong agenda in Brazil, which included meetings with government officials and businessmen. Peres also gave a historic speech in Brazil's Congress about the political, economical and cultural ties between Israel and Brazil.

“I don't want to discuss Iran here on Brazilian soil. But I can't ignore the fact that their government is developing nuclear weapons and wants to destroy Israel,” Peres said.

The first Israeli president to visit Brazil in 40 years, Peres was granted the title of honorary citizen of Brasilia, Brazil's capital.

Peres next stop is Argentina where no Israeli head of state has set foot in twenty years in spite of the country having the largest Jewish community in the Americas outside the United States.